Here’s the Consumer Reports guide to choosing between the two:
“Why buy a plasma TV?
To get more screen for your money
Inch for inch, plasma offers more bang for the buck than an LCD TV, so the same budget can often buy you a bigger screen. 1080p screens might be an exception; plasma sets with “full HD” resolution tend to be priced similarly to LCD models.
To enjoy a movie-theater experience
A good plasma TV’s deep black levels and high contrast can do justice to almost anything you watch, including movies and TV programs with dark scenes. The strong contrast and realistic, accurate colors can result in rich, natural-looking images, especially in dim lighting. Some LCD sets have trouble displaying the same strong, dark blacks as plasma sets. On certain LCD sets, uneven brightness from the backlight can create cloudy areas that can be distracting in dark scenes.
For a wide viewing angle
With a plasma TV, as with the familiar picture-tube set, the images onscreen look the same from almost any angle. That’s a big plus if a TV will be watched by a number of people sitting around a room. It’s a different story with LCD TVs. Most still look their best only from a limited “sweet spot” in front of the screen. Generally, as you move off to the side, the picture quality of an LCD screen degrades, appearing increasingly washed out or dim. Vertical position also matters—say, if you’re sitting on the floor or watching a set that’s mounted above a mantel. Some new LCD TVs have successfully addressed this, and they have a wider viewing angle than the typical set of this type, but few if any maintain off-angle picture quality as well as a plasma.
Why buy an LCD TV?
You have a very bright room
LCDs are generally brighter than plasma TVs, and their screens are generally less reflective. (Some LCD sets have very reflective screens.) That makes them better for daytime viewing in rooms with lots of windows or for nighttime use in rooms with bright lighting. Some plasma TVs can look a bit dim in bright lighting when set to the Normal or Standard mode, which we generally recommend for home use. You can switch to the Vivid mode or raise the brightness control to compensate, but the picture quality might suffer. Another issue with most plasmas is that the glass screens are subject to reflections and glare. If you have the lights on while watching dark scenes, you might see mirror-like reflections on a plasma set.
For heavy use with video games or as a PC monitor
Both types of flat panels can do the job, but with an LCD, there’s no chance static images will burn in. With a plasma TV, burn-in can be a concern with video games, computer programs, and other content that has fixed images onscreen for a long time. That includes station logos, news tickers, menus, even the bars alongside standard-def pictures. Many plasma sets have screen-saver features to minimize risk. This might have been more of a problem with early plasma sets. In our tests, we’ve seen temporary image sticking that goes away in a day or so, but no evidence of permanent image retention. Recent anecdotal evidence from our staff and online forum participants hasn’t turned up any burn-in issues in typical long-term use at home. If you’re a video gamer, try to avoid leaving the game menu on screen for indefinite periods of time.
In some situations, either an LCD or plasma TV should do almost equally well:
For blur-free motion
In general, plasma sets are better than LCD TVs at displaying fast motion with no blurring. In our tests of LCDs with the typical 60Hz refresh rate, we saw blurred edges, smeared details, and problems with detail on the worst performers. Most LCD sets with 120Hz or 240Hz did better than the 60Hz sets, displaying less blur. You might not notice any blur in TV programming with little motion, such as news and talk shows, but it might be apparent in sports, movies, and video games. But if you want to minimize any potential problem, a plasma TV or an LCD set with effective 120Hz or 240Hz technology would be your best bet. Note that the anti-blur feature on LCD sets is sometimes linked to motion smoothing, which can give film-based movies a video effect you might not like. You can switch to 60Hz to restore the film look, but you’ll lose the blur reduction.
For a long, useful life
Another point that needn’t concern you is any difference in longevity between the two technologies. Despite reports you might have read about plasma’s allegedly short life span, LCD and plasma sets should last a good 10 years or more in normal use.
If you want to control your electric bills
Although older plasma TVs used more electricity than LCDs, that’s no longer the case for the new models we’ve seen. Our tests have shown that most LCD and plasma sets of comparable size use about the same amount of power. So this is no longer a reason to shy away from plasma in favor of LCD.
For wall mounting
LCD and plasma panels can be mounted on the wall, but you should attach mounts to wall studs to ensure adequate support. That’s especially important with larger TVs, which can weigh more than 100 pounds.”
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